Aftermarket handheld tuners v.s. Dyno tuned by speed shop?

[saleenssc1989]

I am kind of up in the air with the tuning issue. I have heard great things from numerous aftermarket handheld tuners and their capabilities. However, alot of people still seem to have their car dialed in at speed shops.
I am curious to see what everyone else thinks on this matter. I do have one local Speed shop near me, Brenspeed. However, i know they deal more with the S197 mustangs rather than any other mustang. So wasnt sure if it would be worth making a long trip to a good performance shop or just ordering a programmer and using that to dial it in?

ANy help would be great guys! Thanks.

 

[03cobra#694]

I did a mail order and tuned mine via datalogging and e-mails.You`ll need a w/b to do this correct though.

 

[BackInBlack]

I to have wondered how user friendly these handhelds are. Dyno tunes are expensive and way out of the way for me. I am baffled by the whole process.

 

[03yllwguy]

There are numerous threads with info on this topic. A safe tune is a must. Regardless of mail order or dyno tune, in order to verify your car is tuned safely, you must either verify your tune on a dyno, or have an accurate w/b. Sticking a mail order tune in your car and running it without checking it is crazy. I don't see the price diff. either. Mail order tune with a tuner runs about $400. A dyno tune and tuner at the most reknown shops runs about $600. Is the $200 really that big of a difference?

 

[LS1PUSSOUT]

get it on the dyno so your car runs perfect...

 

[96stanggt]

I am kind of up in the air with the tuning issue. I have heard great things from numerous aftermarket handheld tuners and their capabilities. However, alot of people still seem to have their car dialed in at speed shops.
I am curious to see what everyone else thinks on this matter. I do have one local Speed shop near me, Brenspeed. However, i know they deal more with the S197 mustangs rather than any other mustang. So wasnt sure if it would be worth making a long trip to a good performance shop or just ordering a programmer and using that to dial it in?

ANy help would be great guys! Thanks.

The handheld tuner is simply the tool used to import the tune into the car. Once you have the handheld or chip you can have the car tuned via a dyno tune or remotely with another tuner. Just because your tuner is too far away doesn't mean you can't have them give you the best possible tune. You can go to a dyno and datalog everything your tuner needs, email it to them and they can alter your tune just as if they were there dyno tuning it.

There are numerous threads with info on this topic. A safe tune is a must. Regardless of mail order or dyno tune, in order to verify your car is tuned safely, you must either verify your tune on a dyno, or have an accurate w/b. Sticking a mail order tune in your car and running it without checking it is crazy. I don't see the price diff. either. Mail order tune with a tuner runs about $400. A dyno tune and tuner at the most reknown shops runs about $600. Is the $200 really that big of a difference?

While I agree with what you're saying, that only applies if there is somebody qualified who is local. I trust Rick @ Amazon to send me an email tune anyday over the local guys I have to do a full dyno tune. I don't trust just any person who took some little SCT class and got certified to be the one I trust with my motor.

 

[Romans8:28]

It's usually not an "either-or" situation (buying a hand held vs "dyno-tune).......

You still usually need to purchase a handheld tuner in order to "dyno-tune" unless it is burnt to a chip. A custom dyno tune is still performed by writing a tune into/through a tuning device like the SCT or predator and then to your cars computer.

 

[Mystic03]

400 for a mail order tune..:dw: i contacted james at RWTD as im going for his mail order tunes and he said his tunes are 75$..unless i misheard him and have heard from many people that his mail orders are dead on :banana:

 

[jm@ReischePerf]

While I agree with what you're saying, that only applies if there is somebody qualified who is local. I trust Rick @ Amazon to send me an email tune anyday over the local guys I have to do a full dyno tune. I don't trust just any person who took some little SCT class and got certified to be the one I trust with my motor.

Agreed.